Flying
by Muggle Jane
Summary: It was supposed to be a dinner. But then there was a bright blue potion, and the rest of the evening got a little hazy. One-shot! M for drug use, language, and "adult situations."


**A/N: The Hard, Loud, and Fast challenge from the Teacher's Lounge! Rated M for drug use and sexual content... Mature readers only, please.**

"Come _on_, Lavender!" Padma's voice carried up the stairs. "We're going to be late."

I took another look in the mirror, sticking my tongue out at my reflection. There was only one scar on my face from... what had happened. A puckered line ran down in front of my right ear, over my jaw, and onto my neck. It was really nothing compared to what had happened to my collarbone and right shoulder. But it seemed to stand out sharply, an ugly mark that refused to hide itself no matter how I did my hair or what beauty charms I used.

"Coming," I called back, after one last look at myself. It wasn't going anywhere, why bother hiding it? Maybe they'd be so put off by me that Padma would stop trying to drag me out with her. I knew she felt bad for me, I just wished she'd leave me alone sometimes. I could never seem to say no to her.

I fussed at the collar of my cowl-necked jumper to make sure it covered the mass of scarring that decorated the upper right half of my body, then slipped my slightly scuffed black flats on my feet before running down the stairs.

Padma was waiting at the bottom for me in an anxious sort of anticipation. She'd just started dating some Quidditch player, and apparently the team was having some sort of dinner or something, and she'd decided that I needed to go.

Quidditch players. I had the worst luck with Quidditch players. Well, there'd really only been the one Quidditch player... Maybe I just had the worst luck with everyone.

She was excited, though, so I put a bright smile on my face as I picked up my handbag from the long table beside the door. "Ready," I announced.

Her brown eyes took me in with a slightly dubious look, but she didn't question my fashion choices. Muggle denims, the jumper and flats, just a scant amount of make-up, my hair brushed and otherwise untouched. I knew she was thinking I looked more ready for a night in with the girls, considering that the filmy shirt she was wearing was low enough in the front that she was going to get mighty cold if we spent too much time out in the crisp November air. She'd given up on arguing with me about it, though, she said it did nothing but give her a headache.

Instead she looped her arm in mine, basically pulling me towards the front door of my flat. As soon as the door shut behind us, without bothering to ask if I was ready, she Apparated us somewhere else.

We were in front of a very large home. I had no idea precisely where we were- somewhere in Britain, obviously- but it was just as cold here as it was where I lived in Surrey. The sky was already dark, stars twinkling down at us along with the frosty sliver of the moon. An awful lot of noise was coming from the house; music, voices- mostly masculine- and laughter. It was the type of thing I would have enjoyed if only it had happened several years ago.

The door opened before we reached it, the large wizard she was dating coming out of the house to lift her up into his arms. I didn't remember his name. We'd met once before- Manny? Kenny? Something.

I was completely surprised when, after his tongue left her mouth, he descended on me, hugging me like we were the best of friends instead of barely acquaintances. "I'm glad you came, Lavender!" His voice was slightly slurred, and my sensitive nostrils picked out the unmistakable smell of Firewhisky. "Padma said you don't get out much."

"It's good to see you," I told him, settling on something that wouldn't require the use of his name. Kevin? Kyle?

The hug went on for a bit too long, but he must have been a Beater or something, because the arms that were wrapped around me were like tree trunks, and there was no getting away.

I took in a grateful breath of cold air when I was finally free, and then found myself ushered into the noisy house before I really had a chance to enjoy it.

A look around showed me that 'dinner' was probably not the best word choice. There was a table laid out with platters of food, several large bottles of Firewhisky open at one end along with assorted spirits of other colours and flavours. It was a party, at which there happened to be food.

Padma's boyfriend had his arm wrapped snugly around her shoulders, but he looked down at me. "Want something to drink?" Carl? Mark? Mark. That was his name. I was pretty sure, anyway. "Or eat? Just help yourself."

They disappeared, likely to go somewhere dark and private, leaving me alone in the foyer. I knew... No one. There were large wizards all over the place, a few witches, but no one who looked even remotely familiar. The was shaping up to be just the worst night.

If I went home, Padma would come looking for me as soon as she surfaced from Mark long enough to notice I wasn't there anymore. Then I'd get a lecture about trying harder and no one cared about my scars, and...

The music was loud. My hearing was more sensitive than it had been, and it was going to get unpleasant if I had to stay too close to it. It seemed to be coming from the room with the food in it, so I needed to go the other way. Even though I was hungry. I'd been promised dinner, and I hadn't eaten since lunch. Worse and worse.

The bottom storey was very open, but I came to a partially-closed door that promised to be at least a little quieter, and I went in to what appeared to be some sort of sitting room. There was a large blond wizard sitting on the flower-patterned sofa, but it was quieter in here, and darker, lit only by a handful of candles on one of the tables.

He looked up at me; his eyes looked a little unfocused, and there was a bit of a weird smile on his face. "I know you," he said, patting the sofa next to him.

He did look familiar. I went and sat on the cushion one over from his, clutching my handbag in my lap with both hands. He was very broad, and he only had to shift a little before he was in my personal space. His head was resting against the back of the sofa, and I could feel him staring at me.

A line from the song floated through the door I'd left partially open. -_she makes me move, she makes me quake, that full-moon curse that I can't shake-_ Padma would have called my expression pouting, but I didn't pout. As if I needed any fresh reminders of what had happened.

"You don't look like you're having much fun," he said after a while. I'd almost forgotten he was there.

He hadn't been drinking, I couldn't smell any alcohol. There was a strange smell I couldn't identify, though, layered with a whole bunch of peppermint as though it was trying to hide in the fresh scent.

"I'm here with Padma. She said it was going to be a dinner." I sounded a little sullen.

"There's food out there." One hand lifted up and waved lazily in the general direction of the door, and there seemed to be something very familiar about the gesture. "Loud, though." There was a long pause as though he was considering what was happening beyond the door. "Yeah. Loud." A glass of something thick and blue appeared beside me. "Want a drink?"

It was the source of the peppermint and whatever else I was smelling. "What is it?"

"It'll make you smile. I bet you'd be really pretty if you smiled."

That sounded questionable. But if it was what he'd been drinking, judging by the dreamy expression on his face, it would make me smile. Fuck it. Padma had abandoned me, I didn't know anyone, and it would be nice to smile.

I took it from him and held it in front of my face, sniffing again before I took a drink. After just a few seconds, I could actually feel the muscles in my shoulders unbunching and relaxing, making me realise exactly how tense I'd been. I took another drink.

"You're a flower, aren't you?" he asked, easily taking the blue drink and setting what was left of it on the table with all the candles. "Rose? Daisy? Dandelion?"

Dandelion? That was so absurd, I couldn't help but giggle. I sat back against the back of the couch, registering by the warmth against my shoulders that his arm was across the back of my seat. "Lavender."

"That's right. I remember you."

I still couldn't place him, but it didn't much matter. I hadn't felt this relaxed in... I couldn't remember ever feeling this relaxed. "What's that blue stuff?" Maybe I could get some to help me sleep. Not that I really felt sleepy... Warm, though, I definitely felt warm.

"It's got sativa and peppermint extract in it, some other stuff. It helps me relax after matches."

I was relaxed. "I'm warm." I was regretting wearing the jumper now, maybe Padma had been onto something with her much flimsier shirt. There was a reason that I'd worn the jumper, but I just didn't care. I sat up, pulling it off and letting it drop to the floor beside my feet. That was better. His arm was still warm, though, when I leaned back again.

I could feel his blunt fingers tracing over my shoulder, traveling through the scars I carried. There was a slight delay in the feeling, nerve damage, but it still felt... nice.

His other hand brushed down along my other arm, making me shiver. "I like blue." Blue, the colour of the bra I was wearing. Darker, though, not as bright as his drink.

I stared at it for a moment, my skin looked so pale above the dark fabric. His fingers were darker than my skin, I noticed, as he traced the seam where the shiny fabric met my soft flesh. His fingers were a bit rough despite the Keeper's gloves he no doubt wore. There was a fleeting question of how I knew he was a Keeper, but it was quickly gone.

...He was suddenly closer, I could see the thick blond hair on the back of his head as he bent to trace the same path with his tongue that he'd just made with his finger.

...His shirt was gone now too, I felt the wiry hairs across his chest as they made contact with my sensitive skin. He tasted exactly like the drink he'd shared with me, the touch of his tongue cool velvet against mine.

...My fingers were moving slower than they should have, and got caught in the close-cropped curls of his hair. He seemed to be managing just fine, though, the button on my denims didn't seem to slow him down at all.

...I was on my back, my entire lower body raised up off the scratchy fabric that covered the sofa. My ankle was propped over his shoulder, the other foot along the back of the sofa. His hands were what was holding me up, fingers flexing into my backside every time he surged forward.

...My knees were on either side of him as I straddled his hips, one hand balanced on his chest, the other running over my own body. I'd never really noticed how soft the skin on my breasts was before.

...Padma's wide brown eyes, her face was upside-down and far above me as my head hung off the back of the pillow that had somehow relocated to the floor. Just for a moment, though, and then she was gone. I wasn't alone, though, something sinuous was moving between my thighs, driving me farther and farther away from myself.

...The carpet was rough under my knees, each languid movement behind me, into me, pushing them over the floor ever so slightly. My hair hung down around my face, a thick curtain cutting off everything outside myself. My pleasure was spiraling out-of-control, making me fly high along the ceiling.

...There was a heavy weight settled across my back as I pillowed my head on my arms, thicker than a blanket. My eyelids felt too heavy to open, my body was singing. It was nice just to lie there, the reassuring pressure against my side, the weight across my shoulders.

* * *

><p>I opened my eyes. Those were <em>my<em> red-and-black shoes resting on the floor not too far from my face. I blinked, turning my head a little to see Padma's rather blank expression through strands of my hair. Had she really borrowed my shoes without asking?

It was lighter than it had been the last time my eyes were open, though the lack of the scent of candle wax meant that it was likely morning instead of just a larger light source.

We were the only two people in the room. "Where's..."

"McClaggen?"

My eyes widened. "That's who that was?" That's why he was familiar.

"They have practice this morning. He asked me to give you this." She reached down, a folded sheet of paper in her hand. It opened a little to reveal a somewhat messy scrawl. I took it from her, closing my fist around it. I'd look at it later.

I looked up at her for a moment before sitting up, combing my hand through my hair, pushing it back out of my face. It looked like my clothes were in a neat pile on the cushion beside her. I reached for them, and she picked up the bundle and silently handed it to me.


End file.
